Tag Archives: fracking

Frackers have been calling for a database of oil and gas infrastructure and now they’ve finally got one. It’s a collection of vandalism, arson, violence, sabotage and other incidents of eco-terrorism committed against energy infrastructure.

This catalog of incident will help expose the attacks and educate the public on the extent of this threat against public safety and the environment, Western Wire reports.

Toby Mack, President and CEO of Energy Equipment and Infrastructure Alliance, says “criminal tactics have become a regular feature of pipeline protests, leaving taxpayers on the hook for millions of dollars and potentially endangering lives, the environment and our national security.”

The link to the new incident tracker is here, which is where reports are also filed.

We hope not to see any incidents from Colorado, and we hope not to see anymore letters to the editor urging violence like the infamous Boulder letter that asked whether there is a “moral responsibility to blow up wells and eliminate fracking and workers.”

Such letters, and the publications that support them, are likely to turn up in the database.

Fractivists aren’t the brightest bulbs on the planet, and they proved that yet again by staging a “die-in” demonstration the day after the Las Vegas tragedy in which nearly 60 people lost their lives in a brutal and intentional act of violence.

Described as a “Peaceful die-in,” the demonstration was meant to raise awareness donations for their cause.

EBCU used an image of the protesters lying on the ground at the Boulder County Commissioners (BCC) meeting while holding grave markers, to promote and solicit donations to their efforts with the caption: “If you like what you’ve seen recently, please consider donating to our general fund.”

This is the worst publicity and fundraising stunt we’ve ever seen. Environmentalists should be ashamed of themselves.

Fractivist leader Cliff Willmeng sure is mad at Democrats, who he blasted in a Boulder Camera letter to the editor for their outrageous behavior, like following the law.

He’s mad that Democrats have produced a bunch of front groups like Conservation Colorado to praise their public officials.

He’s angry that Democratic administrations have paid lip service to renewable energy, and yet after spending billions of dollars to try and create such a worldwide system, it doesn’t exist.

He blasts U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, Gov. Hickenlooper, but gives U.S. Rep. Jared Polis a semi-pass because “He speaks personally on the issue of gay rights while advancing corporate trade pacts like the Trans-Pacific Partnership.”

The only thing good about the party, he says, is it’s so inclusive. And, there aren’t any white, male, conservatives in it.

What does he want? Environmentalists to split from the Democratic Party. When does he want it? Now.

“We either depart this sinking ship, or steady ourselves for a long, slow descent decorated with talking points and posturing.”

If it weren’t for all the money environmental groups contribute to party candidates, we suspect Democrats wouldn’t be too sad to see this special interest group split their scene.

Cliff Willmeng and his band of misfit Fractivists staged a protest Sunday at a Boulder County Commissioner’s house, only she doesn’t live there.

Instead, the group unknowingly harassed her renters, trashed the yard, and left threatening messages meant for Elise Jones.

“Happily, no one was at home, but as you might imagine, the current residents were very confused when they came home to find an oil drum in the driveway and threatening chalk messages drawn up and down the sidewalk and the steps to the house,” Jones wrote.

The fractivists demanded that the empty rental house no longer meet with anyone who disagrees with their politics or talk to anyone who works in a profession of which they don’t approve.

Further, they insisted that the empty house prohibit any development of oil, gas or coal in their space bubble of Boulder County.

What we didn’t see on their list of demands is a ban on the sale of all these products. If they were truly committed to their cause and not just a bunch of hypocritical zombies following the latest environmental fad, they would demand that all cars be banned that run on gas and that the lights be turned out and the heat shut off. Especially at the empty house they trashed.

Willmeng later defended their faux pas, stating that it’s okay to trash the private property of innocent persons, disturb the peace of the neighborhood and make threats, because no one died.

Has U.S. Rep. Jared Polis really had a change of heart and position on fossil fuels, or is he just willing to say anything to get elected governor?

He certainly had plenty of nice things to say about oil and natural gas at a recent event sponsored by the Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry.

“We have a robust energy sector in Colorado, oil and gas, solar, wind,” said Polis, including “the next generation of and future advances in oil and gas extraction, as well as renewable energy,” he continued, adding that the state is a leader in energy-related research.

Maybe he’s just slowly backing away from his now debunked claim that he can make Colorado 100 percent reliable on renewable energy by 2050.

Or, perhaps he’s finally realized that his fracktivist base don’t have the popularity or backing he needs to get elected to the governor’s mansion and is abandoning his base.
As Peter Moore, chairman of Vital for Colorado observed:

“But one thing we know for sure: When Congressman Polis is distancing himself from national anti-fracking groups, you know how isolated those groups have become in Colorado’s energy debate,” Moore said.

Environmentalists and their allies (We’re looking at you, Hickenlooper) have found a way to block the Trump administration from delaying some of Obama’s more egregious midnight rule-making through court challenges with friendly judges.

Greenies won their first victory this week when a federals appeals court in DC ruled that the head of the EPA overstepped his authority by delaying the methane rule until stakeholders had sufficient time to comment on the rule.

Ruling in favor of environmentalists were Judge David Tatel, a Clinton nominee, and Judge Robert Wilkins who was appointed by Obama,

Judge Janice Rogers Brown, who was appointed by George W. Bush, was the lone dissenting vote.

Monday’s decision does not mean the rule imposing the first-ever federal limits on leaks of methane cannot be reversed. But to do so, the judges said, the agency would have to undertake a new rule-making process to undo the regulation and must comply with the Obama-era rule in the meantime.
EPA spokeswoman Amy Graham said the agency was reviewing the court’s opinion and examining its options. The EPA could seek to appeal the matter to the Supreme Court.
The ruling underscores the extent to which activists are turning to the courts to block Mr. Trump’s most ambitious policy shifts.

Hickenlooper’s office joined in supporting the environmental group’s lawsuit using outside lawyers, because Attorney General Cynthia Coffman declined to pursue the case, and good for her.

For those wondering why a group called the Hispanic Access Foundation in Washington, D.C. is funding a media campaign against U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner for his vote last month to repeal the Obama-era methane rule, the answer appears to be that George Soros told them to.

Michael Sandoval with Western Wire obtained the group’s IRS filings and discovered the funding link:

The group did not disclose, however, that it is directly funded by the New Venture Fund, a foundation that has received nearly $5.9 million in funding from the Foundation to Promote Open Society, a group founded and funded by Soros.

The print and radio ads from the Washington-based groups claim that Gardner put oil and gas interests ahead of Colorado communities.

How? His vote allows companies to “waste hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayer-owned gas.”

Well why didn’t they say so earlier? We suspect this also comes as a surprise to gas companies that they are losing hundreds of millions of profits, as well as money that would be paid in royalties to the feds.

By all means, the government needs to invent new regulations to help business make more money. It might eventually make up for all the millions it has cost them in useless regulations.

As a federally elected official who hasn’t served at the state level since the early 2000s, Congressman Ed Perlmutter has some essplaining to doooo on pretty much every major issue facing our state. So we’ve compiled a list of the top 5 questions we hope the media or someone attending a Perlmutter campaign event (preferably with a camera) asks the Dem front-runner for Governor.

Rep. Perlmutter, courtesy of his Twitter profile

What are you going to do about Colorado’s broke a** healthcare exchange?

Perlmutter voted for Obamacare, so there’s that. But what was his vision for how it would be implemented at the state level? Hopefully it didn’t include the kind of cost overruns and excessive fees that everyday Coloradans are dealing with now, but how can we know for sure if he never has to talk about it?

What is your position on the death penalty?

This has been a high profile issue for a variety of reasons in recent years from Gov. Hickenlooper’s pardon of Nathan Dunlap to the prosecution of the Aurora theater shooter, who was sentenced to life in prison. Not to mention Democrats’ repeated attempts to repeal the death penalty in the state legislature.

Do you support abolishing the taxpayer bill of rights (TABOR) like so many others in your party?

This one is pretty black and white. Dems hate TABOR but the people of Colorado love how it has kept taxes low and spurred economic growth. What say you, Congressman?

What did you think of Cary Kennedy’s awkward announcement video?

At least something we can all agree on, amirite?

Would you describe yourself as pro-fracking?

Again, Perlmutter has largely dodged taking a strong position on this issue given that he holds federal office. But where he stands on it will have far reaching policy implications should he become governor. With activists trying to ban oil and gas development and with Colorado being a national leader on the regulatory front, he needs to come out strong one way or the other.

U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet must have come up with this idea while visiting Cuba a few weeks ago because it sounds like propaganda.

Bennet wants to increase the amount of money taxpayers will have to fork over to pay off SG Interests because the government ripped them off on the Thompson Divide lease deal.

And, he says the bill he authored last week will avoid a lawsuit between the company and the federal government that cancelled 18 leases under pressure from special interest environmental groups. Namely, a group led by Bennet’s former chief of staff.

There are several problems with Bennet’s bill, the most laughable is that it comes too late, according to Robbie Guinn, a vice president for SG Interests.

Guinn said SG was notified of the legislation by Bennet the same day Bennet introduced it, and he’s still trying to understand what it does.

“It talks about avoiding litigation. Well, this litigation was filed a month ago. I really don’t understand the rationale with the bill and how this is supposed to work,” he said.

The rationale is simple; it won’t accomplish anything.

Bennet gets some free press to reassure his special interest base he’s preventing a problem, a problem the Daily Sentinel informs us has already occurred.